ed to the State
banks, though not unjust in itself, is most odious because it does not
measure out equal justice to the high and the low, the rich and the
poor. To the extent of its practical effect it is a bond of union among
the banking establishments of the nation, erecting them into an interest
separate from that of the people, and its necessary tendency is to unite
the Bank of the United States and the State banks in any measure which
may be thought conducive to their common interest.

The ninth section of the act recognizes principles of worse tendency
than any provision of the present charter.

It enacts that "the cashier of the bank shall annually report to the
Secretary of the Treasury the names of all stockholders who are not
resident citizens of the United States, and on the application of the
treasurer of any State shall make out and transmit to such treasurer a
list of stockholders residing in or citizens of such State, with the
amount of stock owned by each." Although this provision, taken in
connection with a decision of the Supreme Court, surrenders, by its
silence, the right of the States to tax the banking institutions created
by this corporation under the name of branches throughout the Union, it
is evidently intended to be construed as a concession of their right to
tax that portion of the stock which may be held by their own citizens
and residents. In this light, if the act becomes a law, it will be
understood by the States, who will probably proceed to levy a tax equal
to that paid upon the stock of banks incorporated by themselves. In some
States that tax is now 1 per cent, either on the capital or on the
shares, and that may be assumed as the amount which all citizen or
resident stockholders would be taxed under the operation of this act. As
it is only the stock _held_ in the States and not that _employed_ within
them which would be subject to taxation, and as the names of foreign
stockholders are not to be reported to the treasurers of the States, it
is obvious that the stock held by them will be exempt from this burden.
Their annual profits will therefore be 1 per cent more than the citizen
stockholders, and as the annual dividends of the bank may be safely
estimated at 7 per cent, the stock will be worth 10 or 15 per cent more
to foreigners than to citizens of the United States. To appreciate the
effects which this state of things will produce, we must take a brief
review of the operations an